Conventional automotive vehicles are typically entered by lifting or pulling an exterior door handle and actuating a lever mechanism positioned within a vehicle door assembly, thereby unlatching the door so that it may freely pivot about a hinge. Modem vehicles may be provided with a remote access device, such as a push-button key fob, that a vehicle occupant may activate a short distance from the vehicle in order to automatically lock or unlock the door. Certain vehicles such as minivans may also include one or more power sliding side doors that slide or roll along a set of tracks or guide slots, and/or a swinging rear hatch door, deck lid, or trunk lid, each of which may be similarly activated from outside the vehicle using a button on a push-button fob. With such remote devices, the vehicle door conveniently opens and closes, and locks or unlocks, at the touch of a button, thus greatly simplifying ingress to and egress from the vehicle, as well as facilitating the loading and unloading of cargo.
Swinging side vehicle doors in particular typically house various integrated connections and other control features, such as power window system components, power folding mirrors, and/or electronic door lock mechanisms, each of which may add mass to the door panel assembly. This added mass may necessitate the exertion of an increased amount of opening or closing force on the door. Also, to facilitate ingress to and egress from the vehicle, side doors generally require a sufficiently wide opening angle, which may make the door more difficult to reach for an occupant seated inside the vehicle. Under certain circumstances, therefore, conventional methods of actuating the door, particularly by an occupant seated inside the vehicle or by an agility- and/or mobility-challenged occupant, may be less than optimal.